dylan_taylor Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 Anyone had good success with constructing a functional expedition sled with PVC, a kiddy sled and the like? The important thing is that it perform better for skiing. I need the PVC to keep the sled from nipping my heels. Also, I am trying to make up my mind whether to "X" the PVC, so it crosses behind me, or just leave the PVC parallel. I wonder which way offers more stability? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schnitzem Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 I tried to make a sled and was finally given a sled made by Chariot from BC. It skis awesome. The basics of the design that made it better were - tracking (it uses skis no a sled base this also reduces friction), control (use parallel poles that are bolted to a waist harness and are rigidly attached to the sled with a 130 degree bend to harness). anyway check them out for design ideas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dylan_taylor Posted March 31, 2004 Author Share Posted March 31, 2004 I looked at Ziffcos too, which seem plenty nice, but they weigh a ton, and they cost a fortion. Same with Mountain Smith sleds. I've used those guiding on denali, and I hate them. I'd rather use a kiddy sled any day of the week. Thanks for tip on Chariot, i'll check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cj001f Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 Rigid Poles & Rear Skegs are the key design elements for Ski Patrol sleds (which handle quite well). I've begun experimenting on a little platic sled of mine - adding rear skegs w/ Aluminum angle, as well as reinforcing the top lip. I've yet to ski with it, will post bag when I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squid Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 Take another look at those Ziffco sleds- one design feature they have that's worth its weight in gold is the rear-slippage brake- a little blade on an axel that slides over the snow when moving forward, but bites in and keeps the sled from sliding backwards. It should be pretty easy to kludge that onto any kiddy sled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lummox Posted March 31, 2004 Share Posted March 31, 2004 if you are skiing mostly flats i suggest parallel poles. and use bamboo cuz its easier to burn that shit along with the crappy sled when you dont need it anymore. really. i aint joking. pvc dont burn for shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dylan_taylor Posted March 31, 2004 Author Share Posted March 31, 2004 if you are skiing mostly flats i suggest parallel poles. and use bamboo cuz its easier to burn that shit along with the crappy sled when you dont need it anymore. really. i aint joking. pvc dont burn for shit. Good point! I don't want to use up any extra fuel starting the bonfire! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryland_moore Posted April 1, 2004 Share Posted April 1, 2004 There was a thread on this in the AK section last year for people wanting to do Denali. I made my own sled for Denali and it stayed together well. Instead of PVC (which I broke the joints while skiing in the crud with heavy weight in the sled, I used 1/2 " aluminum and used a bar bender instead of joint to link the middle to attach the two aluminum 1/2" waist bars in the middle of the sled, I took a 3/4" tube and slid the 1/2" inside and drilled two holes for each 1/2" piece. Seriously bomber, never broke under the heaviest of weights and I skied with no problems except when I wanted to make big turns and going fast, then the sled would sway a little too much to the sides, but still never tipped. I did use a longer sled so that my weight in the sled was more spread out and less top-heavy which also seemed to help with not ever tipping over. The benefit of using a bar bender instead of joints is that on each trip you can adjust it to what you want. Want more stability? Just bend the bars to cross. Want something a little more versatile? Bend them back to parrallel. PVC sucks IMO and bamboo would never work unless you were pulling only the sled and no weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Flash_Amazing Posted April 1, 2004 Share Posted April 1, 2004 Climbing had a 'Tech Tip' on this within the last few years; it went into a fair amount of detail on good construction tips. Kind of a waste of time, though; dragging that thing up Aggro Gully was a bitch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lummox Posted April 1, 2004 Share Posted April 1, 2004 bamboo would never work unless you were pulling only the sled and no weight. you mean it dint work when i pulled 200 pounds for 100 miles? aaah shit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dylan_taylor Posted April 2, 2004 Author Share Posted April 2, 2004 What I've done so far is rig 80" long 3/4" PVC (I plan on X'ing it for downhill stability) onto my paris kiddy sled by threading it with cord under tension. I put endcaps on both sides, stretched the cords, tied knots, and fixed the ends of the PVC to the sled front. It seems to pull pretty well but I don't know. On three denali trips, I've used a mountain smith sled once (I jumped on it and kicked it thoroughly at the end to destroy it) and kiddy sleds twice. The kiddy sleds worked vastly better than the mountainsmith sled. But I was climbing, not skiing, so I didn't give a shit if my sled did a few barrel rolls or tagged me in the ankles. Now I'm hoping to ski maybe 100-125 miles with a sled, mosty uphill, before I vaporize it with my ray gun and enjoy the descent. Thanks for the beta so far. I think I will go look up those old tech tips... Will update with sled performance on monday. The trial run will be this weekend. My expedition partner will attempt to kite-ski across portage lake whilst dragging his wife behind him in the afformentioned sled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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